Uplistsikhe

This city is located 10 kilometers from Gori, on the banks of the Kura River. The exact date of construction of this fortress city is unknown. The first mention of the city is found in the annals of the 1st century BC. This is one of the first cities that emerged in Georgia. The city reached its heyday by the 10th century AD.

The entrances to the city are oriented to four sides of the world and, accordingly, there are four of them.

The Role of Religion in Uplistsikhe

It was a large pagan center, before the adoption of Christianity by Georgia, where the Sun and pagan Gods were worshiped. In the city were carved special buildings for sacrifice.

How were the rooms built?

For the construction of rooms it was necessary to perform work in 2 stages:

Roughly hollowed out rock;

Thinly rubbed the stone to the desired shape, using water and abrasive stone.

What brought fame to the city?

The city is known for the preserved two-column reception hall from the time of Queen Tamara, built in the Hellenistic era. This is practically the only room that could be restored.

Also, the city has preserved the Hellenistic theater, which is worth seeing for tourists.

In addition to the aforementioned attractions, guides show the Uplistsuli church, ancient basilicas and a wine cellar.

Fall of the city

Reaching its heyday, the city fell in the 13th century because of the invasion of the hordes of Genghis Khan in Georgia. And in 1920, there was a strong earthquake, so no one settled in it anymore.

Today, numerous lizards live here - the only inhabitants of Uplistsikhe.

Since the end of the 20th century, restoration work was carried out in the city, but only a few parts of the city were restored: some residential premises, parts of temples, walls and an underground tunnel, thanks to which the entire city was provided with water.